Like A Bird in a Cage
by minhako
Summary: For his entire life, Eren lived trapped by the walls that surrounded him, closed in on him, suffocated him. Until one day he was taken from those walls and was able to experience the world he had always longed to know. But neither that world nor Eren himself were exactly what he thought them to be. (AU! PROLOGUE UP! CHECKING FOR INTEREST! WORKING TITLE..)


hey there to anybody reading this...! I wrote this prologue like over a year ago lol... I honestly have this whole fic plotted out but didn't have that much inspiration to actually write it. so I wanted to see if there's any interest! so please if what you read seems interesting, yell at me in a review to actually start this fic! sorry for any grammar mistakes, I kind of hate looking over my writing so.. lol.

I don't own snk or any of the characters! i wish i did! 

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" _Eins, zwei, drei.. erwachen."_

A distant sound of bells, and Eren opened his eyes.

" _Vernichten."_

A nod, and he closed his eyes once more, rising up onto his feet. The air was still, almost chillingly so, and the boy would usually take a moment to make an offhanded comment of how much he _fucking hated the cold_. Yet he was silent, no words left his lips as he reached a hand out to the man standing at his side, allowing a firm yet gentle hand to take hold of his clothed forearm, directing him from the room and down a long outdoor hallway. From what he could remember, the hallway was lavishly decorated, adorned with silver and gold accenting which made Eren believe that he was living in a palace when he was younger. The images in his head were sparse though, considering more times than not whenever he would walk down this hallway, Eren was told to keep his eyes shut. He knew better now though, with age came some sort of wisdom for the boy, that this was no palace. It was a much more holy place than that. His home, the small area which he was allowed to see, was built to resemble a type of shrine that Eren had only known about from his teachings. The shrine was designed to be isolated from the rest of the vicinity, which meant that an escort would be required for Eren to make his way to the main hall. He had no clue as to what the rest of the land looked like, assuming there even was more to it than his room and the main hall. Eren rarely set foot out of the closed off shrine which had been deemed as his room, and was sure that he would easily get lost if he was let to venture out on his own. He didn't exactly enjoy having an escort, but it was not like he could reject direct orders.

It was dark, at least he assumed it was because no inkling of light was burning against his eyelids. Whenever he had the chance, Eren would spend his time admiring the night sky, head thrown back to direct his gaze upward to bask in the sea of stars overhead. The night air wasn't too warm or too cold, and he simply let a soft breath escape his lips. He didn't want to reach the main hall too soon, but there wasn't much he could do to delay the inevitable. It wasn't like they requested this of him every night—it was only once or twice a month, at most, and never lasted for too long. Or at least he assumed so; Eren usually couldn't remember the majority of what went on in the main hall, usually accrediting this to his constant need for more sleep. It was rare that they would bring him out simply to see them, usually just having them come to him.

"Adjust your veil, Eren."

He simply did as he was told, slender bandaged fingers pulling the thin fabric out from within his sleeve and tucking the corners into his headdress, making sure that his eyes were fully covered. Even with his eyes closed, it was a quick and easy task because he had done it so many times. He didn't enjoy wearing his veil, but it was necessary and it was something he had grown used to. There wasn't much for him to see anyway when the time would come to open his eyes, so it didn't bother him that much to have his vision mostly impaired.

" _Ja, erledigt, Herr."_

The man hummed and stayed silent as he continued to direct Eren down the hallway, coming to a halt as they reached a set of large doors. Eren peeked his eyes open and his gaze flicked upward momentary as the man nodded to the guards that stood on either side of the doors, them nodding in return before moving to slide open the stained wood. Guards were always posted at every doorway, for as long as he could remember. Eren took a step forward, the man at his side releasing his arm and falling into stride behind him. It was a short walk on his own as he made his way to the decorative cushion placed at the head of the main hall. He could see the gems and gold already scattered across the ground around where he would go and stepped up to the cushion, slowly moving down to rest his knees on the plush surface and sit back against his heels. Eren gracefully placed his hands over his knees, his fingertips just barely touching the edge of the fabric. With the man standing behind him, Eren exhaled a soft breath and shut his eyes before raising his head.

The main hall was long and grand, the ceilings raised high. Wooden floors were stained dark, with a long red carpet rolled down the center of the room, from the entrance to a few feet from the cushion which Eren was seated on, lavish gold patterns adorning the fabric. Along the sides of the carpet were a number of much smaller, much less gaudy cushions where men and women clad in silver and gold jewelry sat. They had been speaking lowly among themselves until the doors had been opened, silence instantly befalling the room. _They always become silent when I enter,_ Eren mused. Strings of gold made waves from the ceiling, leading from the entrance all the way to where Eren sat, at the head of everything. Anybody would be able to tell that every aspect of the decorations was done in order to bring attention and importance to the brunette boy seated at the head of the hall.

Though the pristine white veil covered Eren's glistening emerald eyes, the sheer beauty and elegance of the boy was obvious to any who had the honor of viewing him. A thin white robe served as the base of what the boy wore, a pure red robe made of silk placed on top and tied at the waist with a thick black sash, a black jacket placed over the red robe, lined and decorated with lavish gold designs. A thick rope hung from around his neck, decorated with paper slips that rustled slightly as the guards slid the door shut. Over his brown hair sat a similar, thinner rope, various jewels pressed into the straws that twisted and turned together. His veil was tucked around this headdress, deep red tassels hooked to the rope to frame his face, resting just over his ears. When he was little he had had a habit of shaking his head ever so slightly, just enough for the tassels to brush against the tops of his ears. He had quickly learned that any sort of movement during such occasions was prohibited.

Eren sat completely still, his chest barely moving from his faint breathing. The long-hanging sleeves of his robe laid on the floor, directed away from him as his fingertips met at the base of his cushion. White bandages covered his hands completely, leaving no skin visible. The bandages continued up until his neck, where his veil hid most of the visible tan skin. He was a sight that one would not be able to forget. Though his brown locks were slightly unkempt from being tousled by the wind, everything about Eren resonated delicacy and divinity. The unmoving image that was Eren almost resembled that of a beautiful, lifeless doll.

"Friends, I thank you for joining us tonight." The man behind Eren took a step forward, kneeling at Eren's side, no cushion beneath him. His voice was deep but not loud, yet it carried and filled the expanse of the hall with great authority. He spoke to the men and women that lined either side of the carpet, gesturing for them to rise and approach the boy, which they did without any hesitation. Eren didn't listen to the man's words, having heard them so many times in the past years that he could recite the speech himself. Not that he was allowed to speak.

One by one, the inhabitants of the main hall stood in line on the lavish red carpet and approached him, taking turns to kneel down in front of him, pressing their foreheads to the ground just in front of Eren's fingertips as they spoke of trivial things that Eren rarely paid attention to. The crops were dying. The weather had become unfavorable. Business with the neighboring countries was not flourishing. Trivial things that made Eren want to yawn, but he sat and listened to each complaint, keeping his frame as still as possible and his breathing under strict control.

He didn't really understand it, yet at the same time he did. He did not know why it was that they were telling him these sorts of problems—Eren was no leader who would be able to command underlings to assist with plowing the fields, nor was he wealthy and able to give however many gold pieces necessary to help a family survive for the rest of the month. But he understood that it was his duty to take the people's complaints, to let them have an outlet to speak their frustrations to. What Eren really didn't understand was why he didn't know more. But he was simply told that he didn't need to know more, and he never openly questioned this. He never seemed to be able to whenever the question arose.

Eren sat there on his knees for quite some time. There had been an influx of people that night, and while he didn't really mind listening to them, his legs were beginning to cramp up. Standing up would be a bitch, his limbs would not welcome the sudden movement after such a long time of stillness. He didn't know how long he had been there, how many problems he had listened to, how many hands the man next to him had shaken, how many tears had been spilt, how many 'thank you's had been expressed to him. He didn't know how many times he had been in this exact position, over the past nine years.

A distant sound of bells, and Eren once again opened his eyes.

" _Enden."_

He was once again inside his shrine, the door shut tightly and he could hear the sound of his escort securing the outer lock. Eren simply stood there, in the middle of the small room, and let a sigh pass from his lips. He tilted his head up, tugging the veil down so that his vision was clear as he glanced up through the bars of his small skylight. The night sky was beautiful, as always.

Eren was locked up like a bird in a cage, as always.

Slowly removing his headdress and adornings and setting them on the small table placed to the side of the room, Eren took a couple steps backwards until his back came into contact with the smooth wooden wall. He leaned against it, sliding down until his bottom hit the floor. Dressed in simply his inner robes, he shivered slightly. It was too cold, nights were always cold at the Shiganshina Shrine, but he didn't want to be all dressed up if he didn't have to be. He always felt weighed down by the layers upon layers of clothing and accessories he would have to adorn when he was called to the main hall.

Green eyes stayed locked on the night sky, the bright, full moon his only companion at that moment.

"I wonder what it's like out there."


End file.
